Not a lot of exciting stuff happens in this chapter. My world for this story has to be sculpted and shaped so lots information. But please be patient!

And a couple of notes for this chapter. The cleansing, which you'll hear about, is something I totally made up to get Miroku to meet Inuyasha. I have no idea of monks would really have that power, or if priestesses either. Please bare this in mind when you're like "what the hell" when you scroll down to read. I also took liberties on the priestesses in my world and what it means to be one.

Also, let me know if me changing between English and Japanese words for stuff gets annoying and I'll just pick a language and stick with it.

Reviewer Responses

Sidhe3141: I know what you mean, but I figured I would give Miroku it just in the beginning of the story. He reminds me so much of one of my friends, a pervert and kind of a bad-boy, but really is good when it comes down to it. So anyway, I'm kind of basing this early Miroku after one of my friends until we dig into the story…like in this chapter really.

Reality: Shippou is in the story, however the roll he plays is not as important, but he will be there. He's going to be the foil for the group and get in some comic relief. I know what you mean about Kikyou. The story of Inuyasha wouldn't be the same without her, whether if you like her or not. However, putting Kikyou into my story would take the story to an angle and a whole other plot I don't want to go into. I also decided to put a little more emphasis of Miroku and Sango, which truthfully I didn't decide until typing up this chapter. So thus I decided to leave her out of it…but wait…don't stop reading on me yet. There will still be a lot of problems and angst with the IK relationship!

Sangonesan: I see what you mean with Shippou. Really I do. However, he does come into play in this fic. You might be happy to note that he doesn't play all that important of a role. In fact, part of the reason I decided to put him in there was to get Kagome from point A (by herself) to point B (with I, M, and S). Shippou really is not one of my favorite characters, but I need him here for comic relief. He is not incredibly important to the plot as of right now (unless if something changes) so don't worry.

Shields: Thanks for the review, it's much appreciated. And I hope you keep reading!

I don't own Inuyasha…blah blah blah…I think two disclaimers should work for the whole story…maybe.

Shards

Chapter 2

Miroku arrived at the priestesses' temple around midmorning. He was dressed in his ceremonial monk's robes, black and purple in color for him. They hung loosely off of his broad shoulders, allowing him to move easily. His thick black hair fell messily in front of his eyes, and some of it was pulled back tightly at the nape of his neck. He carried his staff with ease, and ofuda rested inside of his robes.

As of now he was being escorted along the brightly lit hallways of the temple by one of the elder priestesses, one that held much respect and power in the temple and also one that was a good deal older than those he had originally met at the entrance.

He had caused quite a ruckus, and had a few new bruises from asking every single young priestess in the room if they would bare his child. "Really," Miroku reflected, "What's so wrong with that? All they have to do is say no. Ah, women these days…"

So the priestesses had quickly organized, and sent an elder priestess out to meet him. For whatever reason they seemed to have no idea what a monk was doing in their temple, as if they don't remember sending for him. Miroku was quite curious about this. In truth there was higher honor toward him for his choice escort so he could not complain.

The priestess, a short woman, just skin and bones, with a head of thick gray hair and sharp features, had explained what they wanted him to do as they walked through the enormous temple.

"You want me to seal his power? To cleanse him?"

"Yes, and I know it may take some time to complete this, possibly the rest of the day, but this is the only way we deal with the demons that try to still the Jewel. We can't risk a second attempt."

"What you ask of me…I can do. But you realize what kind of torment this brings the youkai? Any power, big or small, that the demon ever held is sucked out of him. They are hardly the same after that…"

"We know this. As there have been attempts in the past…ah…" The priestess trailed off and nodded to a courtyard they had just approached. It was brightly lit from the morning sun, but was still damp from the rain the night before. Numerous trees and flowers decorated the stone courtyard. A stream ran through the middle of it, emptying into a small pond. A foot path wound its way through, with numerous benches lining it. But it wasn't for this quiet beauty that the priestess had trailed off.

"Demons." Miroku said abruptly. "I take it this is the result from the cleansing."

The priestess nodded and halted with Miroku for a moment to observe the youkai in the courtyard.

There were perhaps a dozen demons present in the courtyard. They were of all types, a few whose appearance was human, a wasp demon, a water demon, and many more. They were scattered throughout. Some were walking quietly, others were sitting on the park benches talking, and still others lingered around the pond, and for all intents and purposes enjoying the morning. However, there was a quietness to them, and something a little unsettling. There were other priestesses in the courtyard, interacting with the demons and taking notes; obviously studying the behavior of the "cleansed" youkai.

"I must know, Houshi-sama, will you do what we ask?

"Yes…they were thieves, and I suppose this is a proper punishment…"

"I trust you have everything you need to carry out the ritual?"

"Yes, of course, but like you said it will take time, and I would prefer not to be disturbed while in the process."

With that they began walking again, the priestess leading him through numerous other hallways. For the most part the temple was a bright place. There were so many priestesses in residence, and they added color and filling to the temple. Most priestesses were normal, and acted like everyday women and girls, for nearly all were there only because of the purifying powers they had been gifted with.

When on duty they all had a similar uniform, red baggy cotton pants, and a white tunic top. The uniform almost swallowed the priestess with him. When not on duty, they were free to wear whatever they chose.

It was not uncommon to find a man strolling along the hallways or courtyards with a priestess on his arm. And neither was it uncommon to find children, with no obvious purifying powers playing in the temple. Many priestesses took up residence here with their families, and were granted spacious living apartments. They were free to move around as pleased, except if they had duties to perform or work to do within the temple. The younger ones might have classes, the older ones training.

Being a priestess was not a bad life. In fact, it was quite good. They would be taken care of by the state their whole life. Not to mention it was somewhat an honor to be a priestess.

This particular temple was the largest in the country. The building itself was huge when all of its offices, dorms and apartments, courtyards, and numerous other rooms and sections were all accounted for. It was located outside of the city, due to its enormity. There were numerous other temples across the country, ranging in size, but this was eldest and most established of all of them.

Miroku reflected on this as the priestess led him through the maze of brightly lit hallways and rooms by wall sconces. Paintings and décor were located here or there, and the building itself was unusually clean. He was interrupted from his thoughts by the priestess.

"You do understand that we would greatly appreciate your silence in this matter. No more than a dozen outside of those present at the attempted theft know what happened last night concerning the Shikon Jewel. The guards that were placed on the Jewel are some of the best and know how to keep silent. You do understand that the general public is not to know of this?"

"Yes, but won't people question when a random youkai is added to that number we saw earlier?" Miroku questioned, obviously curious.

"Oh, did no one tell you? The youkai…the demon is actually a hanyou." The priestess replied at first ignoring the question.

Miroku only blinked at this news and he waited for her to continue.

"And as to his added presence, the simplest explanation is usually the most believable. My colleagues well come up with something or we could just say that he was in some sort of accident…there is always something. Nobody will really bother to question that closely. Half of the demons you saw earlier also have fabricated stories, when in reality they tried to steal the Shikon Jewel."

Miroku nodded, the explanation made sense, but there was one thing that he was still curious about. "Why all the secrecy?"

"Can you imagine how the general public would react to all these manner of youkai trying to get the legendary Shikon Jewel. People will start to wonder. Then they start to question if all those old legends are true. I think you know what legends I speak of. I only wish we knew if they were true, only the demon exterminators know the real truth." She said wishfully. "Anyway, I wouldn't want to imagine the various reactions some of the people. It is just better if no one knows."

It made sense to Miroku, but not that he liked the idea that much. He figured that besides some top government officials, the monks that had performed the earlier cleansings, and the few dozen priestesses, no one else would know. What if something else was going on here that the few who did know what really was happening could not see? A dozen demons tried to get the Shikon Jewel this year; something about this was very suspicious.

"This is it." The priestess said, approaching an inconspicuous door that two other priestesses were standing in front of. Besides himself and his escort and the two priestesses, obviously acting as guards, there were no others in the long stretch of hallway.

Miroku subconsciously gripped his staff tighter. The door, for all intents in purposes looked normal, not some place one would hold a highly dangerous hanyou.

"As you know, we'll have to take off the barrier we have placed upon him for you to cleanse the hanyou. I do hope you know how to defend yourself. And don't worry; this room actually has extra reinforcements to help prevent escape, even if for all intents and purposes it looks the same as any other. There is some spells and charms on this room that should hold back at least some of the demon's power. However, it took six of us to cast the barrier originally, so once we take it off, I don't know how much good it will do. We will be out here if anything should go wrong."

Miroku nodded, but he took a moment to look at the two priestesses. "Why hello there!" He said brightly, rushing to both, grabbing one hand with each of his own. He was on his knees and had kissed both their hands before they could blink.

"Would one of you ladies be as kind as you are beautiful and bare my child?"

The elder priestess put her hand up to her face and sighed into it, the two priestesses he had asked blushed deeply.

"Uh…e-excuse me?" One stuttered out.

"What did you say?" The other said sharply.

He simpered, "Never mind."

"If you are finished monk, let's begin." The elder priestess interrupted.

"Of course, of course." Miroku stood up, smoothing his robes, and picking up his staff. "Remember, as soon as you remove the barrier around him - I suppose it's through one of your arrows, yes? - leave, and do not bother me. I need all of my concentration for this to work and to hold back the hanyou in the process." He added in a severe, cryptic voice. In truth, he had ulterior motives. He wanted to question this hanyou on anything he knew about Naraku. He subconsciously clenched his cursed hand as he thought of this. Then he motioned the priestesses to go ahead.

The elder priestess opened the door and he filed in behind her, feeling the presence of the two other priestesses behind him.

The room was bare and white: white walls, white ceiling, and white tile floor. There were no windows, and the room was lit by one glaring overhead light…white of course. The only thing of color was the unconscious hanyou lying on the floor, dressed in black with silvery hair and dog ears.

Silvery hair and dog ears…Miroku's eyes widen. "Do you realize who this is?" He demanded suddenly.

The three priestesses exchanged glances. "We know –" The elder priestess began slowly.

"The bastard brother of one of the most powerful dog demons in our county! If Sesshomaru ever found out that we did this…" Miroku began. He wasn't backing down or afraid, his life was already on the line, but these women…these priestesses needed to know what they were dealing with.

"There is no great love between the two half-brothers. In fact, Sesshomaru might even be glad we did this!" The elder priestess replied.

"With all due respect, but do you know nothing of youkai? This hanyou…Inuyasha's his name isn't it? Inuyasha is only for Sesshomaru to take down or kill!"

The two younger priestesses exchanged worried looks at this news, but the elder held her ground. "Even if what you say is true, we still have no choice but to carry out our task. It is our duty." She said calmly, putting great emphasis on the last sentence. "Are you still prepared to do yours?"

'Yes, I just wanted to…ah, never mind." Miroku replied. Really, he tried to be chivalrous, but these modern women never needed saving.

"Good, we are going to remove the arrow now." The priestess began saying. "As soon as it's removed, the barrier will be gone and his healing powers will return. You might be able to get the first part of the cleansing down before he is even awakened, and that is always the hardest part, from what I understand."

Miroku nodded his understanding, and got him self into a meditative stance, ready to begin as soon as the priestesses had removed the arrow.

It only took a moment, the arrow disintegrated once it was removed. "It's done." The elder priestess announced, wiping her hands on her clothes. "Good luck Houshi-sama." She whispered as she closed the door behind her, the last one to exit.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Miroku was on his feet. Before doing any of the cleansing he had some questions he wanted answered concerning Naraku. And he was prepared to get them.

"Hey Sango!"

"Sango! Great job out there! You too Kirara!"

Sango sighed, "Looks like the news has already gotten a hold of the story Kirara."

Other numerous greetings met her ears as Sango landed inside of the demon exterminator's encampment on Kirara. In truth it was more like a village and it was fully supported by the government, but it was her home and she thought of it what she liked.

It was lunch time, and Sango was quite hungry. It had taken her the rest of the morning after her daredevil freefall to clean up; in other words, to deal with the authorities and go through the proper procedures, not to mention collecting her Hiraikotsu, which she had left behind before chasing after the lizard demon. And that didn't even go into the public's interest. For whatever reason, the people who she and all the other exterminators were suppose to protect could not seem to get enough of them. Sango knew that their life, the life of a youkai tajiya was somewhat of a novelty to the general public, something like a movie. And while they did have their privacy, whenever a stunt like she pulled today was seen, it tended to get all over the news…and it appeared hers had already made the cut from the greetings of her fellow exterminators.

Sango smiled as Kirara transformed into her small kitten form, and she put down an arm so Kirara could climb up onto her shoulder. She nodded and smiled to those who had come over to greet her and then made her way to debrief the leader of the exterminations, her father.

She enjoyed being home, among friends and family. There were perhaps seventy-five demon exterminators, fifteen in-training, and all of their families living in their town. Each family had their own house designed to their own preference, a small house to be sure…this was government funded, but comfortable nevertheless. Her own house was a bit larger due to her father's position. The village also consisted of large training grounds and a gym, a small temple…two priestesses in residence, the meeting hall, the village headquarters and offices, a large pavilion, an activity building, a large pool, store rooms, not to mention the helicopter used to get places quickly and at least one car per every family. The whole village was surrounded by large walls and had only two gates. Despite being walled in, the grounds were quite spacious. There was plenty of room to run and train, and gardens kept by some of the family members who were neither demon exterminators nor held jobs outside of the village. They were actually located on the outskirts of the city, giving them plenty of space.

Due to the number of people out among the grounds; it was not hard to tell that it was lunch break for those doing daily training sessions. She wished she could go ahead and join them for lunch, but she knew her duties and debriefing came first. She sighed wistfully and made her way to the village headquarters where she knew her father would be.

Sango walked down the one lane cobblestone path that passed as roads in the village with Kirara, passing the pavilion where many were taking advantage of the cool, sunny day and eating their lunch outside. Trees lined the main road that stretched from the gated entrance to the headquarters and office building, giving shade that made the already cool day cooler. She passed numerous houses, some of the training grounds, and a few other buildings before reaching the headquarters.

A car, an expensive European model, was parked along the front cobblestone road that widened at the building into an impressive semicircle lined with more trees leading to a small walk to the front doors. A driver leaned against one of the car doors smoking a cigarette.

Sango acknowledged him with a nod and he returned a cool one in return, seeming far more interested in his cigarette than her. She continued her way up to the building, the driver already out of her mind.

It was not uncommon to see such a site at the exterminator's village. Oftentimes serious investors came to arrange their services in person. While the taijiya were government funded for public incidents, this morning activities for example, and could almost be compared to a specialized police force, they did take private jobs. People who were having trouble with some demon or another (and it had to be serious trouble; demon exterminators did not go around killing peaceful and respectable demons who had committed no grievous sins) would often come to ask for their services and offer generous sums of money. It was then up to the chief whether to take the job or not, generally they accepted, except if the client's reasons for the extermination did not line up.

The headquarters and office building was a red brick building with numerous windows and a large mahogany front door, which Sango opened and stepped inside. A dark cherry wood desk greeted her as she entered. The secretary, the wife of one of the exterminators who worked the desk regularly, greeted her.

"Just a minute Sango, as you probably saw from out front, your father has a possible client." She said crisply and then got back to work.

Sango declined to sit down on the pristine white couches, all too aware of the fact that she had both youkai and her own blood on her clothes. Kirara, who was clean, decided to curl up on the top of an overstuffed white armchair and proceeded to take a nap. The front room was rather large, and there were two groups of couches and armchairs; one of these centered around a coffee table, the other around a large television set. They never had enough people in there at once to fill up the seating, so Sango often wondered why they bothered to have so many seating options. Not to mention they were all white, and got dirty so easily, so they were barely ever sat upon.

The decoration was warm, a deep red wall color along with the dark cherry wood wall columns and tables. Sunlight filtered in from the windows, the entrance room was two-storied, high ceilings creating the feeling of space. Sango's father's office was at the end of this room, opposite from the entrance; to either side were opened archways that led down to offices and other secret operation rooms. The operation rooms were similar to what other special force units might have. The best technology offered in tracking and communications as well as some of the best search database computers available.

Sango stood rather uncomfortably. She had left her Hiraikotsu by the door, but had left her other weapons on, hoping that her debriefing with her father wouldn't take too long. She was ready to get cleaned up and eat, but that would have to wait. She focused her sights on the television wanting a quick diversion and hoping her father would not be too much longer.

She groaned as she realized the midday news was on and was replaying her daredevil dive. She winced as she watched herself fall in slow motion…it looked a whole lot worse on television then it did when she actually took the fall. And then of course they had to put a profile picture up on screen.

"Great, now that's of course not going to attract attention." Sango groaned. It really wasn't that big of a deal, but Sango really enjoyed her privacy and to see herself plastered across the television…again, annoyed her to know end. Not to mention some of the lesser demons who held grudges against exterminators might remember her face. Most demons, most of them actually liked having the exterminators, simply because they cleaned up the messes and the demons would not have too.

Finally they moved on to another story, something about the youkai and human troubles in the political system, but Sango paid no attention to it as her father's office door opened.

She made her way to the door, passing the possible client in the process. He was wearing a "no nonsense" business suit and rather shiny black shoes. Sango glanced at him as he passed only to find him looking at her. This took her back rather abruptly. And time seemed to pause as they both interlocked gazes. He was middle-aged and was obviously wealthy, and appeared normal enough. But then he grinned. It was rather malicious, and made Sango quite uncomfortable. And the look in his eye was something else all together. For a moment, Sango swore she saw something behind that face, something unsettling and different from what she first saw. But when she blinked it was gone and he was on past her, his shoes clicking softly on the hardwood floors.

Sango swallowed and walked on, feeling rather unsteady.

"Ah Sango! Everything go smoothly today?" Her father asked, sitting behind his desk in his large and nicely furnished office. He was a large man, tall and nicely built from years of working as a demon exterminator. Despite his middle age, he had yet to lose that muscle. He had black hair with some gray from the years of stress as the exterminator's leader. He was dressed in his office uniform, one he wore to meetings with clients and public appearances. He wore black pants, made out of the same material as the field uniforms, a dark green button-up shirt with the shirttails out, and then a black jacket, made from the field material with the exterminator's signal on the breast.

He was a widower, and that fact would be seen in the hollowness of his eyes in certain moments. However, his children, Sango and Kohaku gave him new life and that hollowness would always disappear when one of them were ever seen or mentioned.

He worried often. Sango was out in the field with Kirara now. Truthfully, he did not want her there. However, despite her age and sex she was probably the best exterminator they had. He did not know if she loved what she did, and he had asked her at one point. Sango had replied, "I don't know. But I do know that for whatever reason, I was gifted with the skills for it, and my duty calls me to be an exterminator." He had let the subject drop then, and never asked her about giving up the life as an exterminator again. He wanted her to attend high school with the rest of the teenagers her age; she would be a senior, enjoying her last year in high school…but that life wasn't hers. And then there was Kohaku. He was ready; the father knew, ready to start extermination work.

"Yes everything went well; the lizard demon has been taken care of." Sango replied recovered from her encounter with the client. She was a little bit relieved her father did not know about her fall, he would definitely disapprove.

"No civilian casualties?" He asked. He took in the messy sight of her. "And you, are you okay?" He asked softly

"I'm fine. One casualty, and a few injuries." Sango swallowed at this. With everything that happened, she had yet to reflect on this…if only she could have been there sooner. Her downcast eyes were noticed by her father.

"None of that!" He said, sharply. "You did want you could and you accomplished the mission."

"Yes sir."

He smiled, changing the subject as he organized a stack of papers. "As you noticed I just had a client. We have a job tonight." He said, changing the subject.

"We?"

"Yes, in fact the majority of us. I plan to take fifty of us tonight. It's a big extermination. But don't worry about that now; you'll hear the plans later. And wait, I have other news."

Sango noticed the shift in his voice; it became harder at those last words. She waited patiently for him to speak, but dreaded what it might mean all the same.

"Earlier today, a few hours ago, Shou reported back in from a relatively simple extermination." Her father hung the words there.

"I'm sensing a 'however.'" Sango added

"Yes, Shou came back with some very…interesting…news." He chose his words carefully, and Sango waited, looking for something in her father's face, but his stony expression gave away nothing. "He met a priestess after finishing his extermination. She came to him, asking to speak with him. This wasn't just any priestess either, but one of the elders. They shared some information with him to pass along to me in complete confidentiality. The priestesses acted rightly to contact me through another exterminator, as you know, for me to meet with any of the elders would garner instant attention. But the news was this…and listen carefully Sango, what I say is not to leave this room." He said in all seriousness.

Sango nodded her acquiescence. "I understand."

"The Shikon Jewel has disappeared."

She drew in a breath sharply. "What? How?"

"That is what we are all wondering. A hanyou tried to steal the Jewel last night and almost succeeded. However he was stopped by the priestesses, but something strange happened. As they moved to take the Jewel back, it just disappeared."

"How is that possible? There must be some higher power at work here."

"I tend to agree. Due to the circumstances the priestesses want to access our records of the history of the Jewel. As you know, we are the only people to know the history of it. And not all of us even know it. Whether if it's greed from the priestesses at this chance to examine the history, or if something from the records may actually help I don't know. They also offer the invitation to work together to find the Jewel. I may take them up on that offer, however it is my duty as leader to let none outside of us know the history of the Jewel."

During her father's talk, Sango glanced at an innocent looking painting of lilies alongside one wall of her father's office. Behind that painting lay a safe that was locked by a digital and manual code. The safe also had a fingerprint and retina scanner to further up the security. Inside that safe lay the documents, and copies of documents of the history of the Shikon Jewel. Some of the records were over a thousand years old.

"I tell you this not because you are my daughter, but because you are one of the best exterminators and thus it is my duty to inform you of this incase action has to be taken. You know not to speak of this to anyone. Put it out of your mind."

"Yes sir." She worked to clear her face of her troubled expression, and took her father's advice to not dwell on the subject.

"Sango, go get cleaned up. You look horrible." Her father said with a slight grin to take the sting out of his words.

"Oh thanks." She replied dryly and turned to go at his dismissal, but as she reached the door her father called her back. "Sango, I want you to tell Kohaku that he's coming tonight."

She smiled. "He's ready?"

"He's ready." Her father confirmed.

Sango smiled and left her father's office. She picked up the still dozing Kirara who gave a little mew at the movement, cradling her in one arm, and held Hiraikotsu across the shoulder on her other side.

She left the headquarters building, making the short walk just east of the building to her home. Another cobblestone road led off from the main one toward her house which was near to the training grounds. She could see her fellow exterminators making their way back to the training grounds following their lunches. Do to her work this morning, she was done for the day, but she figured that she would probably visit the gym or pool later today.

"Sango! Hey Sango! You're back!" Kohaku's voiced hailed her from a distance, interrupting her thoughts.

"Kohaku! How were your morning exercises?" Sango asked as her younger brother approached, leaving his friends and fellow trainees as they headed back to the training grounds.

Kirara mewed and jumped from Sango's arms to Kohaku's, who laughed. His smile was infectious and Sango found herself smiling in return. He was lean and of average height, his dark hair was shaggy and unkempt, bangs falling across his eyes. Freckles dotted across his nose, and his eyes were full of mirth of a boy with no worries. He was wearing the common uniform of the trainees, black pants and T-shirt with the exterminator's signal on the back.

"Oh they were fine, same old same old."

"I got some news." Sango said with a glance at him as they continued to walk toward their home. "But wait, shouldn't you be getting back to your training?"

"Nope, we don't start for another…" He paused as he pulled out a wristwatch out of his pocket, "twenty minutes."

"Lucky you…so…I went to give my report to father. There was a client there." Sango began slowly.

"Yeah…" Kohaku said, obviously wanting her to hurry up and continue.

Sango rolled her eyes. "It's going to be a big job, more than half of us are going. And you're going too."

"I am?" Kohaku said rather hesitantly.

"Yep!" She smiled.

"Oh…"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Well it's just that…" Kohaku halted, both in speech and movement. Sango stopped with him, appearing puzzled.

"Do you think I really am ready? I'm scared…what if I mess up…what if I am not good?" He finished.

"It's fine if you mess up. Everybody does, and it's your first extermination! It's fine to be scared. Besides, from what I've seen, you got enough skill for me to be scared." She replied, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"That's not true!" Kohaku said vehemently. "I…I have a lot to live up too." He finished with a helpless shrug.

Sango pretended not to hear the last bit. "Listen. Go out there, do your afternoon exercises with your friends, have a good time, and don't think about this. Remember, you are not the only one there. Over half of us exterminators will be there, and if anything goes wrong, I'll have your back."

It was those last words that reassured him the most. "Okay." He said rather reluctantly, but gave his consent nevertheless.

Sango smiled. "Hey, I'm proud of you." She hugged him, causing Kirara to jump out of his grip. Kohaku, being a twelve year-old boy, squirmed and fought to get out of her grip.

"Stop that! Who knows who could be watching!" He said as she let go.

Sango laughed and reached out a hand to ruffle his hair. Kohaku nearly growled, swatting her hand away. This caused Sango to laugh even more.

"If you're going to get all mushy and sisterly on me, then I'm leaving!" He announced, stomping away. But he turned around after a few feet to give her a grin.

"Oh by the way, we're supposed to analyze your performance today from the footage taken during your little chase scene."

Sango groaned. Why was it always her exterminations that ended up being used for the trainees to study?

Kohaku laughed, and started to make his way back toward the training grounds, leaving her alone with Kirara.

"Kohaku, wait!" Sango yelled to get his attention. "Father's proud too you know." She said simply. He only nodded, but there was less worry in his face at these words, and he appeared comfortable walking back to the training grounds.

Sango sighed and looked down at Kirara. "I hope everything goes okay tonight Kirara."

The little firecat only mewed in response.

A cool breeze picked up and Kagome shivered, wishing she had a jacket. She had heard the end of lunch bell ring just a little while ago, perhaps fifteen minutes, but she had yet to will herself to get up and make her way back to class. The feeling just would not leave her be.

She sat on the ground, along the side of the building just out of sight from the streets and the school windows. No grass here of course, only concrete, the alleyway was not even part of school property.

Her only company was the sounds of the streets, cars and people and demons passing by. Part of her wanted to go back to class, wanted to go back to normal life. But the feeling held her there. The feeling was uncomfortable, but not unbearably so. It was like an itch that never went away.

She kept telling herself that she would get up. "Just another minute and I'll go back to class."

She let out a small shriek of frustration. "Forget it; I'll just go in at the next bell."

Kagome was startled out of her thoughts by a tiny patter of footsteps coming from the other end of the alleyway. She looked up curiously and down the alley toward the footsteps.

"What the…who would be down here?" She thought curiously. She stood up and leaned her torso to look down the alleyway. It wasn't all that dark down the alley; she should be able to see something. There were only a few trashcans and some doors, nothing to obstruct her view from whoever it may be.

She saw nothing, only the next street beyond. Bewildered, she turned the other way to check to see if she misheard. There was nobody there either.

The patter of footsteps only got louder. Kagome was not scared, only curious. Where was it coming from? Then she looked down.

She gave a squeak of excitement. "How cute!"

It was a little fox demon. He was very young, but was humanoid. He had a bushy tail, and quite a lot of golden brown fur. He had been running on four paws, but now that he had spotted Kagome he stood up on two feet. He had a very compact shape and gave the appearance of a ball of fluff. He had red longish-red hair, tied back to stay out of his way. He was wearing deep blue baggy pants, a matching lighter blue shirt-like tunic, and a light khaki colored jacket.

The young fox demon looked at Kagome curiously. He hesitated and then seemed to make up his mind about something. He bounded toward her and stopped at her feet. He took several deep breaths, while she just watched him, not really sure what to make of this development.

"Um…heh…" He said, still out of breath, and then blurted out, "Can you help me? Pleasepleaseplease!"

A/N: I had to stop it there, otherwise this chapter would have been about thirty pages with what I have planned next.

I know this chapter wasn't particularly exciting…a lot of necessary information though. A lot of what was in this chapter was to make this world, the modern day one of humans and demons, a little bit more real. Stuff needed to be explained to setup the world.

On the brighter side, next chapter should be a lot more exciting. You'll get to see what transpires with Miroku and Inuyasha, what happens with Kagome and Shippou…the Shikon Jewel might just make an appearance…and my version of Sango's tragedy.

One other very important thing: Some of you may be wondering why these events are happening with the exterminators when they don't have any jewel fragments yet, so why would Naraku be trying to get them? You'll just have to wait and see…

And I think that about wraps it up. And yes, I would enjoy having more of what every author wants...I think you know of what I speak.

'Till next chapter then...pink shoelaces.